New Ferrari to face competition in Spain

Ferrari’s rivals will get the chance to run alongside the new 248 F1 later this week after the Italian team opted to switch testing venues.
The new car was launched at Mugello on Tuesday, where Michael Schumacher commenced a test programme, putting in 44 laps in low temperatures.

Ferrari had planned to continue at the Tuscan circuit, but based on forecasts of worsening weather conditions in the area, they will know switch to Barcelona, venue for this week’s multi-team test.

Positive results were seen durin the testing and the car seemed to have a good balance. Ferrari hopefully have learnt their result after a dismal 2005 season.

Would Ferrari prefer Raikkonen over Alonso???

There have been reports lately connecting current championship leader Fernando Alonso, with a possible switch to the Ferrari team in the future, however the Maranello based squad have denied that the young Spanish is of great interest to them, even though they know he is a talented racer, instead they would be more interested in Finnish racer Kimi Raikkonen."Who keeps saying we want Alonso?" Jean Todt told Bild. "He's got talent, okay. But there are other drivers, even very good ones. I can tell you this: Alonso is not at the top of our list. Even if this may not sound very respectful to Alonso,I consider a young man who drives for a German-English team to be the better choice.

"Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are both under contract until the end of the 2006 season, while Kimi is under a long term water tight contract with McLaren. Like Alonso however, Raikkonen would never consider a move to Ferrari while Michael Schumacher is still in active competition with the team, meaning that a move before the 2007 season is highly unlikely.
(Quotes courtesy Espnstar.com)